Watch out Obama—2012 is the year when the can kicks back – Lurita Doan

President Obama may best be known as the president who took kicking the can down the road to new, unimagined levels. Obama has demonstrated an unusual ability to delay decision-making, to obfuscate issues, to divert attention from matters of critical importance, and his preference to take half measures when pushed to the brink is now well known. Obama is the Grand Master of Kicking the Can Down the Road.

But in 2012 that seems likely to change—the can is going to kick back.

The problems besetting our nation can only be ignored and obfuscated for so long—and the past three years of the Obama Administration shows that things have gone about as far as they can go.

• The economy does not recover. Small business owners and entrepreneurs who have been the brunt of many of Obama’s attacks, through excessive regulation and increased fees and taxes, are not able to ignite the American job machine as they have in the past. Small businesses account for 3 out of every 4 jobs created in the United States, but Obama persists in demonizing these work-horses of the American economy. Obama’s attempts to incite class warfare (and other examples such as Harry Reid’s determination to ignore the contributions of business owners in this country) may cause this “can” to kick back. Already, the reports are in that show that during 2011 there were less IPOs than in the past 10 years. IPOs, while not the sole indicator of success, are an indicator of the state of small businesses and entrepreneurship in this country since IPOs are one of the ways that businesses obtain access to capital, measure growth and financing for long-term enterprise expansions. Even in the federal market, small businesses are being hit hard as surveys show that in 2011, there were far fewer, first-time, entries into the government contracting arena and that far fewer small businesses provided first-time goods and services to the federal government.

• The can could also kick back over Obama Administration scandals—of which there is a large menu—but where “Fast and Furious” and “green contracting” endeavors such as the bankrupted Solyndra top the list. Americans should expect that these are just the tip of the iceberg of bad Obama Administration policies in action. And, Americans should also expect that the oversight from congressional committees such as the House Oversight committee led of Chairman Darryl Issa will be fair, measured and balanced but will undoubtedly uncover even more egregious excesses from the Obama Administration’s partisan politicking and crony capitalism.